Yes, but much less common on replacement forks. Also all too often missing on forks that have been serviced in any way. As I said in the prior post, most of the headset issues I've seen were not on new bikes that were left alone, but started after a service.

I can't count how often someone's brought me a problem headset, and when I take it apart, there's no keyed washer.

I'll ask where it went, and the response would be to the effect of "someone told me I didn't need it, so I left it off" or "I added a cable hanger and the fork wasn't long enough so I removed the washer".

As a professional mechanic, I'll venture that you had similar experience.